Expectations
by StrawberryGreen
Summary: One-shot, from five different POVs. Mentions of HPDM slash. Gets more angsty the farther you read. Unwilling HPGW.


**Just a little something. I really should be working on some other stuff...**

**Disclaimer: Don't own it. Never will. -sigh-**

**Warning: Contains SLASH. Male/male relationships! You have been warned.**

:::

Ginny felt like she was floating on a cloud. She heard Ron ask, "You're what?"

"Marrying Ginny," her new fiancé told her brother. Ginny smiled.

"That's great! Let me see the ring!" Ron looked like he was going to split his face in half from grinning so widely when she held out her hand to show him.

"Wow, mate. That must have been expensive! Are those real diamonds?"

She looked over and saw Harry shrug in a way that she found completely endearing. He was so modest some times. She just wanted to grab him and snog him senseless, but that would be rude and she knew that they had plenty of time to do that later.

*

She remembered when Harry asked her to marry him, two days ago. They were taking a stroll around the lake, when Harry stopped and got down on one knee.

*

"Potter, I heard you're marrying the blood-traitor. The best you could do, no doubt. Quite pathetic, really. Can't get it up if the girl's not hideous and covered in freckles?"

Ginny glared at Malfoy for a moment, waiting for Harry to defend her. She was surprised when he just slung an arm around her waist and marched them off in the opposite direction. She figured he was just too mature for Malfoy's petty fighting anymore.

:::

"You're what?" Ron asked, shocked.

"Marrying Ginny."

Ron grinned. "That's great! Let me see the ring!" he looked at the hand his sister held out to him, and whistled slightly under his breath. That must have cost more than anything he'd ever owned.

"Wow, mate. That must have been expensive! Are those real diamonds?"

Harry shrugged in that way that told Ron that they were, and he couldn't keep the grin off of his face as he hugged his best friend and younger sister.

*

Ron remembered when Harry had told him that he was dating Ginny again. They had come back for their final year at Hogwarts, and it had been no more than a month when they started dating again. He was still very smug about it, as that was what he predicted would happen.

*

Ron wheeled around when he heard Malfoy's voice.

"Potter, I heard you're marrying the blood-traitor. The best you could do, no doubt. Quite pathetic, really. Can't get it up if the girl's not hideous and covered in freckles?"

He was drawing his wand when Harry turned around and walked in the opposite direction, sending Malfoy an extra hateful look for good measure. He noticed Hermione looking deep in thought, but decided to leave her alone about it.

:::

"You're what?"

"Marrying Ginny."

Hermione glanced at the Slytherin table, worry in her eyes.

"That's great! " Ron was beaming at both of them. "Let me see the ring!"

Ginny lifted her left hand to show him, smiling as well.

"Wow, mate. That must have been expensive! Are those real diamonds?"

Harry just shrugged, in a way that seemed modest. Hermione could tell it was his way of slowly crumbling inside without showing it. She glanced over at the Slytherin table again, while Ron was hugging his sister and Harry, where Malfoy was staring down at his plate, not eating.

*

Hermione remembered the night she found Harry and Malfoy together in the Prefect's bathroom. Harry had hoped for her acceptance, and of course she gave it easily.

*

Hermione was shocked when Malfoy yelled after them on their way out of the hall.

"Potter, I heard you're marrying the blood-traitor. The best you could do, no doubt. Quite pathetic, really. Can't get it up if the girl's not hideous and covered in freckles?"

Hermione saw the grief behind the malice, and knew that Harry could too. She could tell that it was taking all of her friend's willpower to not just break down right there in the middle of the hallway, and go running to Malfoy. But that wasn't an option for the Boy-Who-Lived. It never was. He had to do what was expected of him, and that including marrying his best friend's sister and having lots of Potter-Weasley babies. Harry just turned away slowly, wrapped an arm around Ginny's slim waist, and walked down the hall. Hermione turned around and could have sworn she saw an expression of pure agony flit across Malfoy's face before he strided off in the opposite direction.

:::

"You're what?" his best mate asked him.

"Marrying Ginny," he told Ron, as much as it pained him to say those words. He saw the grin spread across Ron's face, and tried to look happy. How much he wished he could actually _be_ happy, not just act happy.

"That's great! Let me see the ring!" he watched as Ginny showed her brother the ring he had bought just over a week ago in Hogsmead. Personally, he thought it was hideous, but he knew Ginny would love it. She did.

"Wow, mate. That must have been expensive! Are those real diamonds?"

He shrugged, not really trusting himself to speak for fear of speaking his mind. That would not be good. The ring had been expensive, but it hadn't done much to his vaults. He had been paid a very large sum after the war, adding to the already massive amount of riches he owned. He thought about sneaking a look over at Slytherin to see Draco's reaction while Ron was hugging him and patting him on the back, but knew it would be foolish.

*

He remembered his last meeting with Draco. It had been hurried and in a bathroom on the fourth floor at one in the morning. He had the hardest time telling Draco that this had to stop, and he was marrying Ginny. He remembered the faint, broken sobs that he had heard as he fled.

*

Harry's heart skipped a few beats when he heard _his_ voice calling after them.

"Potter, I heard you're marrying the blood-traitor. The best you could do, no doubt. Quite pathetic, really. Can't get it up if the girl's not hideous and covered in freckles?"

Harry couldn't muster up the anger he knew he should have. He was too busy examining Draco's perfect body. From his feet all the way up to his soft, blonde hair. He stared straight into those intense grey eyes and felt like crying. He saw the torment and passion, that he knew was mirrored in his own eyes, faintly curtained by hatred and malice. How much he wanted to just run over there and make it all up to him, make them both forget this ever happened.

But that was not possible or him.

So he walked away from the man he loved with the woman he was supposed to love.

:::

Draco heard their voices from all the way across the Great Hall. He heard Weasley ask, Harry repeat, and Weasley's voice again, this time full of excitement. He felt the eyes of someone on him, scorching him, and he wondered who was watching him. He stared fixedly at his plate, feeling no desire to eat. He felt like the anguish was eating a hole through his heart.

*

He remembered all of their meetings. Broom closets, bathrooms, the astronomy tower, classrooms, the Room of Requirement. The places they were least likely to get caught in. He remembered all of the heated moments, murmured "I love yous". That was all over now.

*

He didn't know why he followed them out.

"Potter, I heard you're marrying the blood-traitor. The best you could do, no doubt. Quite pathetic, really. Can't get it up if the girl's not hideous and covered in freckles?"

It was a plea, a desperate last hope. He saw it mirrored in his former lover's eyes, but then Harry turned around and stalked off in the other direction, placing an arm around the bitch's middle. He knew he had let his mask slip when Granger's eyes lingered on him for a little too long, pity and understanding evident. Draco took a deep breath, and walked away from Harry- _my Harry_- forever.

He tried to ignore the misery coursing throughout him.

:::

**Bah. Depressing.**

**Why do I abuse Draco so much?**

**Review?**


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